Piano key



L. M. MARTIN Nov. 21,1950

PIANO KEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 med Jan. 9, 194a INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS L. M. MARTIN PIANO KEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 21, T950 Filed Jan. 9. 1948 mm om wm ww N IN VENTOR.

Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs PIANO KEY Lloyd M. Martin, San Francisco, Calif.

Application January 9, 1948, Serial No. 1,450

8 Claims.

This inventio relates to piano keys and more particularly to a key and lever made in a plurality of sections comprising a key piece, a center piece and a tail piece in which said tail piece and key piece are initially removable from said center piece in order that the ends may be reversed, thus reversing the key to form alternatively a treble clef or a bass clef.

Further, this invention relates to such a key or ke lever which, by reason of its being formed in a plurality of small sections, is readily adaptable to plastic molding, thus providing an economical plastic key and key lever.

Further, this invention, by reason of the detachable and pivotal connections provided between the key piece and center piece and between the tail piece and. center piece, is readily adaptable to any common scale.

' Accordingly, it is one object of this invention to provide an improved piano key and key lever made of a plurality of severable sections to adapt said key and ke lever to economic manufacture from molded plastic.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a severable key and key lever which is readily adaptable to a wide range of piano sizes and scales.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a key and key lever formed of three sections so that in the assmbly of a piano scale which is reversible to convert the key and key lever from treble clef to bass clef form, or vice versa.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a, key and key lever which, by reason of the initially pivotal connection of the tail piece to the center piece, is capable of adjustment to a wide range of scales.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the annexed specification in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a piano keyboard employing keys and key levers embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section and with parts broken away for clarity of illus- 2 tration of a key and key lever embodying the present invention;

Figure 3 is a top elevation of a key and key lever embodying the present invention;

Figure 4 is a top view of an alternative key showing the adaptability of the invention to a center piece of reduced length; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, exploded rear elevation of the key shown in Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a key bed In upon which a key frame II is affixed including a. front rail. l2 and a balance rail l3, all of which portions. are commonly made of. one integral block of wood or other suitable material. Mounted upon. the front rail I2 is a guide pin l4 and a felt punching I5 is placed upon the front rail l2 around said guide pin [4 as indicated. Mounted upon the balance rail I3 is a guide pin I5 and a felt punching IT is similarly mounted around the pin it on the balance rail 13. The key and lever, indicated generally at 29, comprises a key piece 2|, a center piece 22 and a tail piece 23..

The key piece 2| is provided with a pair of channels 24 for lightening the structure and reducing the amount of material required and is also provided with an L-shaped channel 25 and a U-shaped channel 26 for the same purpose. The U-shaped channel 26 is formed by the walls of the key and by the walls of a hollow post 21 adapted to register with the guide pin M as indicated. The two longitudinal walls of the bottom portion of the hollow post 21 are provided at their bottom edges with felt bushings 28 for cushioning the guide pin M. The forward wall 290i the key is beveled as at 30 to form a smooth contour leading into the upper wall 31 of the key.

As will be obvious to those skilled in the art, a complete set of piano keys will require five forms of natural keys and one form for the sharps 'or flats, and also an additional form for the two end keys. 2, 3 and 4 is a natural key such as, for instance, the key of E and has: a laterally projecting por tion 32 which has a beveled rear wall 33.

The inner end of the key piece 21 takes the form of a split cylinder 35 adapted to interlock with a conlplementary substantially semicylindrical wall 36 formed on the outer ends of the center piece 22, and the inner end of the key piece carries at its upper end a substantially semicylindrical solid piece 3! adapted to seat in a complementary socket 38, and also apost 39 depending from the piece 3-! is provided adapted The form shown in Figures to enter the bore 43 of the cylindrical piece 36. Further, at the bottom edge of the inner end of the key piece 2| a semicircular annular depending fiange 4| is provided adapted to ride in a complementary annular recess 42 at the outer edge of the bottom of the center piece 22 as indicated, and a flange 43 is provided adapted to ride on the outer edge of the upstanding flange 44 forming the annular recess 42. All of the foregoing interlocking elements thus provide a removable pivotal connection between the key piece 2| and the center piece 22.

The center piece 22 is provided with a plurality of channels 46, shown here as four in number, and also there are indicated four bores 41 communicating with the channels 46 and forming balance rail pin holes. The upper edges of the longitudinal walls of the recesses 46 are provided with felt bushing pads 48 to cushion the balance rail pins in the well-known manner; and as will be apparent from Figure 2, the guide pin I6 is adapted to extend through one of the holes 41 into one of the recesses 46 and pivotally mount the key.

' The inner end of the center piece 22 is formed in identically the same manner as the outer end and is adapted to form a pivotal interlocking connection with the outer end of the tail piece 23 which in turn is identical to the structure just described as comprising the inner end of the key piece 2|, thus pivotally mounting the tail piece in the same manner as the key piece so that, in assembling, it is necessary to make only one form of center piece 22 which may be used either in the position shown in Figure 2 or turned end-for-end so as to reverse the slant of the key lever when passing from treble to bass clef, or vice versa, as shown in phantom in Figure 3.

The tail piece 23 comprises the interlocking connection with the center piece 22 as above described and a longitudinally extending bar 50 provided with easements to lighten the structure and a solid end portion 52 providing a considerable range of area for positioning of the capstan 53 which will engage the abstract head 54 or, if desired, a whippen. A felt cushion 55 is provided in the inner end of the bed as indicated to cushion the inner end of the tail piece. 7 Referring now more particularly to Figure 3, it will be noted that the center piece 22 is formed of two sections 60 and BI disposed at a large included angle to each other. This angular relationship between the portions 60 and BI provides an ofiset permitting the alignment of the wall 63 of the center piece 22 and the wall 64 of the key piece 2| directly along a common line as, for instance, the line 6585 as shown in Figure 3. Further, it will be appreciated that this oifset is exactly the distance comprising the width of the thin section 66 of each of the keys, thus assuring that when the center piece 22 is reversed end-for-end as shown in phantom in Figure 3 and the parts realigned to the straight line relationship described, the inner end of the center piece has been thrown two key widths over. This The tail pieces 23 must be aligned so as to bring the capstans 53 in alignment with the mechanisms to be engaged thereby to actuate whatever type of piano action is employed. Accordingly, these tail pieces may be pivoted from their joints with the center pieces properly to dispose the capstans. In the embodiment shown, the inner end of the tail piece is capable of being adjusted over a wide range of final positions and is thus extremely adaptable to whatever scale is desired.

In the assembly of the piano keyboard of this invention, it is necessary to be provided with the requisite number of key pieces 2| in the varying formsrequired. plus the required number of center pieces, which will in each case be identical, and the required number of tail pieces, which will in each case be identical. Once the keys have been aligned in their proper positions as shown in Figure 1, the pivoted joints between the key pieces and the tail pieces ar made immobile. In the event the parts are made from molded plastic, as is the intention of the inventor, this can be accomplished simply by applying a plastic cement to the joints just prior to or just after setting in the required positions.

In the final assembly, it is desired to position the inner ends of the tail pieces all along a common line. This may be accomplished in this invention simply by sawing oil the excess length of tail pieces not required for the positioning of the capstans 53.

t will be apparent from the above description that, with the key and key lever of this invention, a very simple, inexpensive mechanism is provided adapted to universal drilling of the balance rail despite the fact that the center pieces are reversible to accommodate passing from bass clef, as indicated at 70 in Figure 1, to middle clef, as indicated at in Figure 1, or to treble clef as indicated at in Figure 1.

Further, by reference to Figure 4 it will be apparent that, inasmuch as the key and key lever is initially of separable pieces, the center piece 22 as shown in Figure 2 may be replaced by a center piece 22a as shown in Figure 4 of different overall length but still the same key pieces 2| and 23 may be used, thus adapting the overall key and key lever of this invention to use with the varying lengths required in different pianos merely by substituting one common piece.

While there has been described What is at present considered a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the essence of the invention, and it is intended to cover herein all such modifications and changes as come within the true scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connec tion between said center and tail sections.

2. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, and a detachable interlocking pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and tail sections.

3. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, and a detachable interlocking pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and tail sections, said center section comprising two arms disposed at a large included angle to each other.

4. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, and a detachable interlocking pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and tail sections, said center section comprising two arms disposed at a large included angle to each other, said arms being of such length that when said center section is turned end-for-end and rearranged with its inner arm in alignment parallel to said key section said inner arm has been displaced laterally twice the width of said key section.

5. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, and a detachable interlocking pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and tail sections, said center section comprising two arms disposed at a large included angle to each other, said arms being of such length that when said center section is turned end-for-end and rearranged with its inner arm in alignment parallel to said key section said inner arm has been displaced laterally twice the width of said key section whereby all the keys of a piano may be formed with identical center sections-and said center sections are adaptable to universal drilling of the piano balance rail.

6. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, each of said sections being formed of molded plastic material, and a detachable interlocking pivotal 7. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, each of said sections being formed of molded plastic material, and a detachable interlockilng pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and tail sections, said center section comprising two arms disposed at a large included angle to each other.

8. A piano key and key lever comprising a key section, a center section and a tail section, each of said sections being formed of molded plastic material, and a detachable interlocking pivotal connection between said center and key sections and a detachable pivotal connection between said center and tail sections, said center section comprising two arms disposed at a large included angle to each other, said arms being of such length that when said center section is turned end-for-end and rearranged with its inner arm in alignment parallel to said key section said inner arm has been displaced laterally twice the width of said key section whereby all the keys of a piano may be formed with identical center sections and said center sections are adaptable to universal drilling of the piano balance rail.

LLOYD M. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,505,486 Palmer Aug. 19, 1924 2,117,002 Hammond May 10, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 261,014 Germany Jan. 14, 1913 

